


The 100th Korok

by Snidgetwidgeon



Category: The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild
Genre: Fluff, Gen, Link is sweet boi, Sad with a Happy Ending, are they seeds tho?, cute korok is cute, stoopid hawk
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-11-14
Updated: 2020-11-14
Packaged: 2021-03-10 02:34:39
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,164
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27556936
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Snidgetwidgeon/pseuds/Snidgetwidgeon
Summary: The children of the Deku Tree make it their mission to help the Hero in defeating the Calamity, but when one little korok misses its chance, it returns home feeling like a failure.  When Link visits the forest, the korok discovers there may be another way to aid Mr. Hero.
Comments: 17
Kudos: 57





	The 100th Korok

**Author's Note:**

> Recently, I reached 100 followers on my Tumblr Blog @Snidgetwidgeon. To celebrate this happy little milestone, I felt inspired to create a BotW ficlet about 100 of something.

Link thought he saw it again. A shifting in the grasses, always in his periphery, and whenever he turned to look, nothing. This, along with strange, intermittent poofs of air, led him to believe he was being followed. At first he was on edge, thinking the Yiga were getting the drop on him; but since nothing ever came of it, he settled with the odd occurrence, but remained vigilant just the same.

As he passed a fallen log, he was struck with the inclination to check the hollows. Sure enough, on the opposite end was a little jar. A Korok puzzle. One of the easier ones. The little forest spirits could be quite crafty sometimes but he enjoyed their games.

“Ya ha ha! You found me!” The korok wiggled excitedly and placed a small golden seed in Link’s outstretched hand.

“Many thanks, little one,” He smiled.

At some distance away, a soft voice counted to itself, “Ninety six! Oooo, Mr. Hero is getting so close!” The little korok rose to the sky hanging on its propeller leaf and continued to follow. It wouldn’t be visible out in the wild until setting a puzzle for Mr. Hero to solve. The korok stayed hot on Link’s heels as he moved through the countryside.

“Ninety seven.

Ninety eight.”

The little korok hovered, poofed, and slid through the grass over the next two days, keeping a hawk like vigil on the Hero. So intent was it to not miss its moment, that it was distracted to the point of not noticing the actual hawk, diving straight for it. Koroks were friends to all living creatures, but not all creatures returned the sentiment. The hawk thought this little korok could be lunch!

“Eee!” The little korok dove just in time to escape the grip of the hawk’s talons. But it circled back and the korok had to employ its other tricks to give it the slip. It poofed and dropped into the grass, camouflaging spectacularly. The hawk did a few more passes of the area before giving up to find an easier meal.

The korok popped its head out and gasped. Where was Mr. Hero!? It almost rose into the sky to search but was afraid the hawk might still be nearby, so it skated through the grasses as quick as it could. By the time it caught up and saw Mr. Hero about to cross a bridge, it was too late. It’s leaf face drooped in sadness as Link tossed a rock over the side of the bridge into a ring of stones in the river.

“Ya ha ha,” the little korok sadly echoed its sibling. “You didn’t find me.” A tear fell and with its hopes of being Mr. Hero’s hundredth korok dashed, it decided to fade back into the forest. "I don’t want to play this game anymore..."

~~~

Sometime later, Link made a visit to the Korok Forest. There were some shrines in the area he thought he’d have a go at cracking. As he passed through the main thoroughfare, he booped the pod lanterns and made some of the koroks laugh before they hid when he got too close. Just before he reached the shrine, he spotted one all on its own, behind a large root spreading out from its father, the Deku Tree. Its leaf was drooping and he thought he heard a sniffle. He crouched down slowly, “Hey there, little one. Are you unwell?”

The korok swayed in a bit of a daze before managing to speak. “M-Mr. Hero!” The dark, mismatched pupils dilated before it burst into tears and collapsed into Link’s lap.

Link flinched in surprise but cradled the wailing forest spirit, hoping that he would be able to offer sufficient comfort.

“I-I-I... f-failed you Mr. Herooooo!”

Link brows knit together, “What? How? That’s nonsense. The koroks have always been helpful to me.”

His heart clenched when the little korok looked up at him so forlornly. It was welling up again, and the dam was all but fit to burst.

“We are supposed to bless the Hero with our seeds so that he may grow stronger to defeat the Calamity. B-but... I wanted to be your hundredth seed. Because it seemed special. And then you were almost there, and I tried so hard- but then, there was a meany hawk, and it tried to eat me!”

Link’s eyes widened in concern and was about to speak but the korok sniffled loudly and continued. “And then I lost you, and when I found you- you- you had already found another! And I’m a bad korok, for shame!”

“No, no,” Link entreated gently, “Just because you couldn’t be one hundredth doesn’t make you bad at all. Why would you think that?” He sat to get a bit more comfortable and pulled the korok into his lap to face him, the little body resting against his palms.

The koroks arms flailed as it became animated in its self judgment. “I’m bad because I gave up. I should be out there making a puzzle so you can have my seed but I just couldn’t. But without my seed, what if you can’t defeat the Calamity!?”

Link suppressed a chuckle the way one does with children when they are being so serious. “How about you give me my last seed? That way, I can save the best for last.”

The little korok nearly jumped out of his arms, “Really!? What an honor Mr. Hero, nine hundred is so much better than one hundred; you’re right!”

Link’s encouraging smile was wiped from his face, “I beg your pardon? Did you say... nine? Hundred?”

“Yes! That’s how many were in big brother Hestu’s maracas.”

Link fell back into the grass dramatically, looking dazed. It alarmed the little korok and he could feel its stubby legs poking into his stomach and ribs as it made its way up his abdomen to be the one bent over his face in concern.

“Mr. Hero? Are you unwell?” it parroted Link’s question from earlier.

“No, I just... nine hundred is so many. How could I possibly find them all?”

The little korok put on a thinking face and walked in circles around Link’s chest. The moment a solution came, it jumped excitedly causing Link to grunt. “I know how to help, Mr. Hero!”

Link sat up and held the korok so it wouldn’t tumble. “How’s that?”

With a beaming face and arms outstretched wriggling with excitement, the korok laughed, “Ya ha ha!” and poofed into a new shape. A mask.

Link held it up in awe, turning it back and forth in surprise. “Are you still there, little one?”

He heard a soft coo in response and after another curious pause, decided to give it a try.

The magic of the korok went into effect immediately. As Link walked through the forest, his mask sighed with delight, the little pinwheel spinning joyously every time he neared another forest spirit.

“Thank you, friend.”


End file.
